Reggie Bush gets some 'great news'

Reggie Bush gets some 'great news'

From Comcast SportsNetDAVIE, Fla. (AP) -- Reggie Bush sent out a tweet saying he had good news, and privately told teammates he expects to be fine.Even on the day after a loss, there was some relief for the Miami Dolphins.Tests performed on Bush's left knee showed no serious injury Monday, meaning the Dolphins (1-2) may have their top offensive player available this weekend when they travel to face unbeaten Arizona (3-0). His last carry came just before halftime of Miami's 23-20 overtime loss against the New York Jets on Sunday, when he limped off the field and clearly was in pain."He's healthy and he'll be able to contribute," offensive lineman Richie Incognito said.Bush, who has 302 yards already this season, was getting rehabilitation and not in the locker room for the portion of Monday open to reporters. Hs lone public comment came on Twitter, where Bush wrote, "Received some great news today! Praise the Lord!"Bush got hurt on a first-down carry from the Miami 20 with about a half-minute left until halftime, a situation where some teams would consider kneeling to run out the clock.So it wasn't just Bush's knee that was evaluated on Monday. Dolphins coach Joe Philbin said he would also evaluate the thinking behind calling a run play there, especially when the percentages of Miami adding to what was then a 10-3 lead before the half expired would seem, at best, minute."Right, wrong or indifferent, you certainly could argue we made some mistakes -- or I made some mistakes, I should clarify that," Philbin said. "You know, every situation's unique. You have to argue as a coach, do you have faith in your players to execute a base play in your offense and run the ball, or do you want to take a knee? I sometimes struggle with that."We'll have to examine it," Philbin added. "We'll take a look at it, we'll discuss it, but I don't know if there's any hard, fast (rule)."Philbin said a number of variables -- score, time-out situations and momentum among them -- goes into the decision into whether or not the time is right for a team to kneel on the football and run out time in the half."Every situation is unique," Philbin said. "That's the great thing, the fun thing about game management."There were indications on Sunday that Bush's knee injury was not going to be that serious.Bush wanted to return to the game after halftime, even spending some time on a stationary bike on the Miami sideline in an effort to keep the knee loose.If Bush cannot play this weekend, or is limited, the Dolphins would likely use Daniel Thomas and rookie Lamar Miller more than usual. Thomas finished with 69 yards on 19 carries against the Jets, and Miller had 48 yards on nine carries after halftime, including a 22-yard burst.Miller said he asked Bush how he was doing Monday, and was told that he would "be back soon.""I think he'll be good by Sunday," Miller said. "I'm not sure. I know he's doing a lot of rehab to try to get back and help the team out."Bush finished with 61 yards on 10 carries against the Jets, and his 6.0-yards-per-carry pace would be, by far, the best of his career. He entered the season averaging just under 4.3 yards per carry.He's also tied for third on the Dolphins with 10 receptions."I like what he's done, every single game," Philbin said. "He's been productive in every game, he's played hard in every game, he's been sound. So he's done a very, very good job. All that being said, I don't think it really changed the game a whole lot (when he left)."Dolphins linebacker Kevin Burnett, who said he has been through six knee surgeries, said it was "amazing" to learn that Bush was not dealing with a serious, structural problem with his knee."It's a blessing," Burnett said. "You look at what the guy provides. He provides, he gives you the big play from first down to fourth down. Anytime this guy gets the ball in his hands, he's liable to go score a touchdown. It helps us. He's one of the top five playmakers in the National Football League."

Khudobin simply ‘has got to be better’ for Bruins

Khudobin simply ‘has got to be better’ for Bruins

BOSTON – There wasn’t much for Anton Khudobin to say after it was all over on Thursday night.

The B’s backup netminder allowed four goals on 22 shots while looking like he was fighting the puck all night. It was one of the big reasons behind a tired-looking 4-2 loss to the lowly Colorado Avalanche at TD Garden.

The loss dropped Khudobin to 1-4-0 on the season and puts him at a 3.02 goals-against average and .888 save percentage this season. Three of the four goals beat Khudobin despite him getting a pretty good look at them. The ultimate game-winner in the second period from John Mitchell just beat him cleanly on the short side.

Matt Duchene beat Khudobin from the slot on a play that was a bad defense/bad goaltending combo platter to start the game and MacKinnon ripped a shorthanded bid past the Bruins netminder to put Boston in a hole against a woeful Colorado team.

Afterward, Khudobin didn’t have much to say, with just one good performance among five games played for the Black and Gold this season.

“Four goals is too much. That’s it,” said a to-the-point Khudobin, who was then asked how he felt headed into the game. “I don’t know; too much energy…yeah, too much. I don’t know. I just had a lot of energy and I think it just didn’t work out my way.”

Khudobin didn’t really expand on why he had too much energy, but perhaps it’s because the compacted schedule has really curtailed the team’s ability to hold team practices on a regular basis. Or maybe he was just disappointed it took him a week to get back between the pipes after playing his best game of the season against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Either way Claude Julien said that the Bruins needed better goaltending on a night where they weren’t at their sharpest physically or mentally, and Khudobin clearly wasn’t up to the challenge this time around.

“We needed some saves tonight and we didn’t get them. He’s got to be better. A lot of things here that we can be better at and take responsibility [for],” said Julien. “But at the same time, you got to move on here. To me it’s one of those nights that had we been smarter from the get go, and we would have had a chance. Now we’ve got to move forward.”

Clearly, the Bruins have no choice but to move on with a busy schedule that doesn’t let up anytime soon, but one of the lessons learned from Thursday night is that the Bruins need to get better backup goaltending from a collective crew (Zane McIntyre and Malcolm Subban included) that’s won just once in eight games behind Tuukka Rask this season.

More importantly around here, the Patriots now are in position to win out and claim the AFC’s No. 1 seed.

Prior to the Raiders loss, Oakland would have been the top seed if both they and the Patriots won out. Now, the 10-2 Patriots have a leg up on the rest of the conference. The Raiders’ road stays tough. They are at San Diego and Denver and host the Colts.

The Chiefs have a more favorable close to the season with home games against Tennessee and Denver before their season finale at San Diego.

The Patriots’ road over the final four is no picnic though, beginning with the Ravens and at Denver before the last two hosting the Jets and traveling to Miami.